Please forgive me if this question has been asked, but I've been searching all over the net for a definitive answer and have yet to find one. It's been years since I've scratch-built a system, so a lot of this is new to me.

I want to setup the PC with a mirrored System Volume (+Data) to give me some additional crash protection. However, I'd also like to order and use an Intel 311 to boost performance with SRT. But, the current Z68 system boards are a little confusing in their SATA mode support. Most of the Z68 motherboards I see have this configuration:

2x SATA III 6.0Gbs (On a sub controller?)

4x SATA II 3.0Gbs

So the question becomes: Do I buy 2 SATA III hard drives for my mirror and hook them to the SATA III controller and place the Intel 311 on one of the 4 SATA II connections; since the 311 only supports SATA II anyway. Will this work, or do I need to place all 3 devices on the SATA II HBA? Additionally, is this the best way of doing this, assuming it's supported. Or, would I be better off placing the 311 and 1 hard drive on the SATA III connection and software mirroring to the other HDD connected to one of the SATA II connections?

Yea I just realized the 3rd party controller on Z68 boards is typically either eSATA or an additional 2 SATA III. I was thinking the 2x SATA III were provided by the 3rd party controller. I have read, however, that SRT performs best when the 311 is on the 6GBS connection and that caching for a mirror was slower compared to a single drive.

I opted for this configuration:

SATA III (1) - Seagate Barracuda XT 7200.2 (2TB) System Disk

SATA III (2) - Intel 311 SSD running as SRT

SATA II (1) - Blue Ray Drive

SATA II (2) - Seagate Barracuda LP 5400 (2TB) Storage Disk

I have setup windows to do full system backups monthly and setup sync folders for my user and other data directories. Backups and syncs roll to the LP drive, which spends most of it's time sleeping.

So far I'm esctatic with the peformance. Intel 2500K + Z68 + 311SSD

Now if Intel would just make a larger SLC Cache SSD...

NOTE: If you're a Virtual PC user, SRT will enhance the performace of Virtual Machines. My Server 2003 VM takes about 5 seconds to shut down and come completely back up to login.